TO ENSURE the safety of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, technical officials and those involved in the conduct of the Palarong Pambansa and other crowd-drawing events, the Department of Education disclosed yesterday the suspension of the said undertakings.
The suspension of the inter-school sports tournaments, which draw large crowd, is a precautionary measure against the spread of the Covid-19.
DepEd Sec. Leonor Briones stressed during a press briefing that such affairs are indefinitely suspended, including talent contests, science and job fairs, and campus journalism events.
Anthony Carlo Agustin, Negros Occidental Provincial Sports Coordinator and Executive Assistant to Gov. Eugenio Lacson, felt saddened with the said announcement.
“I really felt subdued with this because many of our graduating student-athletes will not be able to compete in their final playing year. However, we will abide by the wisdom of the good Sec. Briones to ensure the safety of everyone involved in these events,” he added.
Negros Occidental will be the host of the 2021 Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association Meet and Palarong Pambansa next year aside from the annual Palarong Panlalawigan in December.
Meanwhile, among the inter-school events which most-likely to be canceled is the hosting of the 12th ASEAN School Games 2020 which Dumaguete City supposed to host this November 7-15, 2020.
The week-long event will be participated by ASEAN -member nations Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
Around 2,500 student-athletes are supposed to compete in events like athletics, swimming, badminton, sepak takraw, basketball, table tennis, and tennis.
Likewise, DepEd, also announced the resumption of classes nationwide this August 24 instead of the usual class opening in June.